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Texas Father Barred from Taking Pregnant Wife Off Life Support

I find this repugnant. This law absolutely reduces a woman to no more than a forced incubator.

On Nov. 26, Erick Munoz woke to the sound of his
year-old son crying and found his 14-weeks-pregnant wife, Marlise, lying
on the kitchen floor, blue in the face and without a pulse. A
firefighter and paramedic, Munoz called 911 and performed CPR, to no
avail. When they arrived at the John Peter Smith Hospital (JPS) in Fort
Worth, Texas, he thought he would have to make an agonizing decision:
refuse life support even though that meant losing both his wife and his
future child. Munoz said in a WFAA News
report that four years ago, when Marlise's brother was killed in an
accident, she told him that she would never want to be on life support —
something they had discussed many times since.

A month later, against his requests, she is still on a ventilator. Not
only does Munoz want to honor his wife's wishes, but also he believes
that the fetus she is carrying has been seriously harmed. "I don't know
how long she was there prior to me finding her," he said. Munoz, who
could not be reached for comment, wrote on WFAA's Facebook page,
"All I know is that she was without oxygen long enough for her to have
massive brain swelling. I unfortunately know what that type of damage
could do to a child during crucial developmental time." Doctors say it's
likely that Munoz's wife suffered a pulmonary embolism, and no longer
has brain activity.

When Munoz first arrived at the hospital, he discovered that, according
to Texas law, life-sustaining procedures may not be withheld or
withdrawn from a pregnant woman, — even if she has an advance health
care directive (also called a living will) stipulating that she does not
want to be kept alive on a machine. There are conflicting reports about
whether Marlise Munoz had an official DNR (Do Not Resuscitate order),
and the family could not be reached for comment. But according to the Center for Women Policy Studies,
as of 2012, Texas and 11 other states have automatically invalidated
pregnant women's advance directives to refrain from using extraordinary
measures to keep them alive, and others have slightly less restrictive
but similar laws. A spokesperson from the hospital told Yahoo Shine,
"Our responsibility is to be a good corporate citizen while also
providing quality care for our patients. At all times, JPS will follow
the law as it applies to healthcare in the state of Texas."

Marlise Munoz's mother and father say they support their son-in-law's
request to take their daughter off life support. "She absolutely DID NOT
EVER want to be connected to Life Support," her mother, Lynne Machado,
wrote on WFAA's Facebook page. "This issue is not about Pro Choice/Pro
Life. Our intent is purely one of education about how this [statute]
null and voids any woman's DNR [if she is] pregnant. We know our
daughter well enough, after numerous discussions about DNR, that she
would NEVER EVER consent to being hooked up to Life Support." While the
family's tragic situation hits a nerve in a state where abortion debates
rage, Munoz also said he doesn't want to participate in arguments over
right-to-life verses pro-choice issues, but instead wishes to honor his
wife and inform the public about a little-known law.

Marlise
Munoz, at approximately 18 weeks pregnant, remains unresponsive and her
husband describes her as "simply a shell." Doctors check the fetal
heartbeat daily, but Munoz doesn't think the testing is sufficient to
measure the fetus's viability. "Its hard to reach the point where you
would wish your wife's body would stop," he said.

This woman has a right to have her wishes followed through on. To be treated as nothing more than an incubator is disgusting and dehumanizing. The state has no right to override the wishes of her husband especially when her parents are saying he is only following her wishes.

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